Lachrymose Crux
by Twisted Eternal Wolvetta
Summary: Mai knew only she could destroy the HiME Star. Sacrificing everything in the means to do so with such a vigorous selflessness. Yet how come the key to her questions remained unanswered? 'For everyone I had sacrificed everything. Perhaps just because of this... I had failed... And instead I recreated the HiME Carnival.'
1. Fading Vermilion

_Quick Author's Note_

_This is only the beginning but things will get darker for Mai, so this might mean trigger warnings in the future chapters._

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><p><strong><em>by Twisted Eternal Wolvetta<em>**

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><p><em>'For everyone I had sacrificed everything. I had even created a new world, putting Taku-... the Obsidian Lord to sleep.'<em>

_Higher and further up within the sky they ventured, ever suspended, ever endangered; their sacrificial journey never disturbed, not by HiME, by Searrs, the SLAVES... not even by earth itself._

_The flames of Kagutsuchi's wings spread throughout the air, the pressure of being so high up intensifying its merciless grip upon Mai's chest, the freezing cold of the atmosphere digging into the pores of her flesh deeply._

_She arched her head upwards, clinging onto her CHILD closely, the brilliant hue of azure greeting her above the clouds._

_'I knew only I could destroy the HiME Star.'_

_Protecting the HiME from most of the backlash of tearing through the clouds and slowly floating into space, the CHILD motioned a soundless coo, turning his head to fixate his eyes upon Mai. The human was stiffly pressed to his metallic body, the impact of entering space shattering her eardrums, the air tearing from them. Nor could Mai breathe, the difficulty having almost been impossible when within the atmosphere, now null as they quickly voyaged towards the blue glow._

_'I hadn't been a HiME, I was a QUEEN. Perhaps just because of this... I had failed...'_

_From earth the collision was seen by all, a silence of colour streaking across the sky in fading vermilion. The death of a HiME-no, a QUEEN sliding into motion, one lonesome pillar rising until it clanked into place._

_'And instead I recreated the HiME Carnival.'_

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><p><strong>舞<strong>**-HiME****  
>LACHRYMOSE CRUX<br>Fading Vermilion**

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><p>A lungful of oxygen tore through her and Mai heaved, lying flat on her back against the ground, pitfalls of fire surrounding her. Blinking up into the ocean-blue sky, she panted, arms splayed out around her haphazardly as she continued to stare, unbeknownst to the chaos of students dumbfoundedly staring at her from behind the fire.<p>

She had died...

Yet what was this?

Her ears rung harshly and she bit her teeth against her tongue, brows furrowing, pupils contorting as she angled her head, regarding the students blankly.

Fuuka Academy... daytime... her eyes leapt back into the sky, the moon still visible, her eyes locating not a blue star, but an angry red one.

The QUEEN lay like this for a few minutes, her mind unable to comprehend what had happened.

"A-ah..." Mai's teeth chattered slightly, her mouth opening as her violet irises narrowed, her vision blurring.

_'I...I failed...'_

Her world faded, stars woozily littering the back of her eyes and she rolled her head back up towards the sky, falling unconscious amongst the noisy commotion which proceeded to illuminate around her, students unsure and fearful, too worried for their own safety to cross the wall of fire.

For how much time had passed, Mai wasn't aware of, awakening sluggishly and unceremoniously greeted by greying tiles, the light above her flooding the room and blinding her temporarily as she strained, attempting to blink away an exhaustion which was relentless.

Mai wet her lips, running her tongue along her teeth thoughtfully, puzzled upon the events which had transpired, more memories pouring into her brain harshly.

Why and how had she come to be after dying? Why was it she had been brought down from space and into the grounds of the academy? Why was the HiME Star now red instead of blue? Who had moved her? ...What of Kagutsuchi?

These questions refused to leave her, even as the door slammed open, not regarding the presence which demanded her attention, violets locked on a particular tile above her which looked to be slightly soggy.

"What do you think you were doing?!"

The outburst entered one ear and retreated through another, Mai's brain having never registered it.

Was this... the new world she had created, Mai wondered? Finally glancing over to the boisterous blonde, the older teen frowning at her, odd waves of purple makeup lining her eyelids.

Ah... Haruka…

"You could've _set Fuuka on fire!_" Haruka lamented, the door creaking shut just to be stopped at last moment, another student – Yukino, a mousy girl trailing in after her, books hugged to her chest. "It isn't even your first day!"

"Haruka-chan..." Yukino murmured quietly, pausing as Haruka shot her a pointed look. "... Shizuru-san has informed me th-"

"That goddamn Bubuzuke!" Without another word the blonde stormed out of the room, Mai inattentive to the notion but Yukino passing along a sympathetic glance before chasing after the other.

"_Haruka-chan, wait!" _There was a clatter and loud chattering, the student council member striding away swiftly after the blonde, darting between teacher and student alike.

"Ha..." Mai breathed, the door uneventfully clicking shut and she rolled onto her side to face away from the noise.

What was even happening?

Looking about the room, Mai cringed. Everything was exactly the same to how it had before she had died. The events of the HiME Carnival had in no way been a dream, nor could it even be possible that she had somehow come back to life after being blown up within _space_. Not to mention Kagutsuchi would've faded out of existence like her.

Abruptly the memory of her CHILD flashed before her, Mai holding Kagutsuchi's head against her chest gently, the dragon responding with a delicate coo which sounded almost as if he was still with her right at that moment.

Mai exhaled slowly upon the memory, closing her eyes, attempting to hinder her tear-ducts which simply failed.

If this _was _an alternative universe... what had happened to everyone? Haruka and Yukino didn't seem to have any idea who she even was, let alone they were HiME.

Or perhaps... they weren't...? Maybe she herself wasn't even a HiME or QUEEN?

Stretching out from the bed, Mai grasped the smooth and thin curtain, rolling it around the bed fully, concealing herself from view entirely. She rested back down onto the bed, lifting her palm to her face, sluggishly wriggling her fingers.

She felt... sick... mentally.

Anxiety, anger, depression, loneliness, shock; they had all mixed together into a toxic blend, pressure shoving itself into the pit of her stomach, throat and head, causing her to bite her tongue, gritting her teeth afterwards in an act of desperation.

With her head firmly planted into the softness of the pillow, she closed her eyes tightly, forcing out the world which was both familiar and alien to her, twisting her arms around herself, chipped nails nipping into her blazer.

To die and be brought back, but _forgotten? _This hadn't... been... what she had _wanted_. What about _everybody else_?! What about Takumi, Kagutsuchi, Mikoto, _the others_…

...Even _herself_...?

It was like she was a... ghost.

Uncaring, Mai reached into the inside of her blazer, shoving the shirt underneath upwards enough to latch her nails against her sides, straining against the mattress, dragging them down her pale skin in a purposely damaging and stalling intention, trading mental pain for physical.

A dark thought entered her mind abruptly to give up then and there, her nails halting in their tracks from the angry red lines which skimmed across her skin, blurry violets revealing to stare towards the window of the room, the blinds warding her of any view outside.

"Somebody is fortunate."

Mai jumped, her eyes widening to shoot her gaze behind her shoulder, Youko having opened the door quietly which swung closed just as soundlessly, the nurse stuffing her hands into her pockets as she neared.

The nurse carefully watched her and Mai angled her head away, hands flying away from her torso only to slide a palm down her eyes tenderly, drying tears but not erasing the presence that she had indeed cried.

"Truly a way to make an entrance." The nurse chuckled, "I'll check on you later, so please do not leave?"

Youko seemed to understand the situation, smiling as the student hesitantly nodded, her back still facing her even as she spun on her heel, leaving silently.

Now that she was alone once more, the bottled emotions within her instead leaked into the atmosphere of the room, the exhaustion of her death, the apparent dimension jumping and shock merging, her eyelids suddenly feeling like twenty tonnes.

Without the strength to even care nor cry, Mai sighed, breathing in the fresh scent of the pillow beneath her head, closing her eyes.

.

. .

. . .

_Thunder rumbled softly and the occasional flicker of lightning pierced the sky. The HiME stared up into the sky, beads of rain tumbling down to splatter against the ground of the academy._

"_She's... dead...?" Natsuki whispered, the blue globe of light shrinking to then expand by the moon, exploding soundlessly as it was warped into the vermilion along the night sky._

"_Mai isn't dead!" Mikoto lashed out to the taller student, gritting her teeth as she twisted around, shooting her gaze up to the quietened ice HiME. "Mai can't die!"_

_Looking away from the other, Natsuki turned her head, unable to break the innocence which Mikoto still held, even after this cursed carnival._

"_But the carnival is over..." Midori murmured, her gaze still locked onto the pouring colour, the vermilion and azure never once blending together, instead dancing around one another, sweeping closer until the two smashed together at the apex. It looked to almost be alike to a nebula, a cluster of dead stars deep within space. "This is... going to be here forever, isn't it?"_

_Through the act of the supernova, stars will die and form nebulae. It is through these sheer clouds of gas that one day they may form into a dozen new stars._

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><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE<strong>

I wouldn't call Lachrymose Crux very... "Christmasy", but I love Mai to bits so I couldn't help myself.

Something to remember about Lachrymose Crux however is this "dimension" is both a merge and alteration of the anime and manga of 舞-HiME. So although things may appear the same there shall be many variations. Basically just think of Renascence since that has been structured in the same way except through 舞乙HiME, obviously.

Also regarding people wondering about Renascence; Harmonium and I won't be working on it until after Christmas, so until then sit tight!


	2. Fragmented Motive

_Quick Author's Note_

_Scenes which are in italic are from the original dimension which Mai left._

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><p><strong>by Twisted Eternal Wolvetta<strong>

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><p><em>For what reason had those two got so ridiculously popular? Nonchalantly Nao stared from her perch atop a solid branch, within the tree she was usually situated in. Her back leant against the bark of the trunk, a hand clasping a small book whilst the other propped her chin, elbow supported by a miserly stick of a branch by her side.<em>

_Suspiciously her lime eyes followed the star pupil and "rebel" across Fuuka's grounds, an obnoxious crowd of students tailgating them, yapping away as if their lives depended on it._

_Why was it so annoying?_

_Sliding the heel of her palm across her lips, Nao frowned, disinterested, but too zoned out to read the fine ink of the book she attempted to read._

_After the HiME Carnival it was almost as if everybody tried to avoid what had happened; what had been sacrificed. She herself had been shoved into such a thing she wanted nothing of, and yet in the end, why was she the only one who cared to notice the small cracks which littered their academy?_

_All except her, the HiME had forgotten about the rock of their group._

_Tokiha Mai._

_For a girl she thought of so spitefully, a Keyless HiME who in the end had sacrificed more than any of them, somebody who for whatever reason was almost entirely forgotten. Even the trace of her demise, the cosmic debris of the HiME Star, now vermilion and azure forever captured beside the moon._

_Yet why did she care? Why did she even notice? Maybe she herself was forgotten? Simply watching the world go by in this forsaken academy with its annoying students, forgetful HiME and stubborn teachers?_

"_Nao…"_

_It was Mikoto, the Crystal-HiME slouched against the bottom of the tree, crouched and hugging an arm around her thin legs, pulling at an overgrown patch of grass at her side._

"_Minagi."_

"_I miss Mai."_

_The fiery redhead never relented her hawking gaze from her book, absentmindedly trailing her eyes along each page, the irises of her lime eyes widening, pupils contorting. "So do we all, kid."_

"_No… the others don't. I've seen them."_

_For the rock which Mai had been for them, and the selfless sacrifice she had made, it seemed everyone apart for just a few others had completely forgotten both Mai's wish and hardship._

_Because after all, who cared for the selfless and anxious?_

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><p><strong>舞<strong>**-HiME  
>LACHRYMOSE CRUX<br>Fragmented Motive**

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><p><em>"I don't even understand."<em>

"Sis?"

At first the call wasn't registered, a fleeting question which drifted away like time, present but gradually fading. She felt somewhat bony hands latch to her shoulders, gently shaking her. "Mai?"

For that moment Mai wasn't sure of a reply, head against the pillows of the bed, thin blankets sprawled across her legs and hips, but never venturing further than her waist.

Blinded by the light as she opened her eyes, her brows tensely furrowed, the smooth skin of her forehead wrinkling, closing her eyes to avoid the piercing of the light.

"Mai!" The masculine but soft tone of voice rang within her ears, and she felt the warmth of slender arms curl around her neck, her form being hauled up from the mattress she lay against.

"Ta...kumi?"

She was sat upright, and her eyes met with the nurse's who stood by the door, Youko's hands shoved into her pockets as her chin came to rest atop Takumi's shoulder, hands upon air, unsure what to do with them as her arms stayed either side of her brother's form.

"You were gone all night! Where have you been?!"

The outburst baffled Mai, the smaller Tokiha squeezing her, forcing the breath from her lungs slightly. Even within her confusion she hesitantly wrapped her arms around Takumi, her violet gaze lowering down from Youko's and towards the floor.

"I…" What was she even supposed to say? "...Needed time to think."

"_At the time, what was I to say? That I had come from the HiME Carnival? A festival which might not even exist here? They would've thought me insane."_

"For moving to Fuuka?" Takumi quirked a brow and guided Mai away from himself, hands clutching to her slender shoulders. "I heard about the fire, what was that about?"

The arch of his brow tensed into a frown, tilting his head in wonder. "You missed our entrance ceremony as well."

"But we're transfer students?"

Mai could only hope that this dimension copied her own. Haruka had yapped on about today(?) not even being her first day, so she _assumed _it was. Just… without the HiME Carnival? She prayed so at least.

"It is different here," it's a… tradition." Takumi pulled away, drifting his eyes over to the nurse. "Sugiura Sensei, when will sis be able to leave?"

"Now, if you like." The woman shrugged her shoulders, trailing over to her chair which was by the desk, sinking into it and wheeling it to the drawers which sat next to Mai's bed, opening out one of the large, white containers.

"I just need to sign you off," she spoke, slipping out a rectangular slip and rolling over back to the desk, grabbing a pen to swiftly and elegantly swerve her signature and the date onto it. Afterwards she reached over towards Takumi, handing the paper and pen over so he could then transfer it to the elder Tokiha.

"We'll be at the dorm soon, Mai." Takumi grinned, passing the two items over to the fellow redhead who leaned against the headboard of the bed, pressing the slip against her thigh and awkwardly writing her own signature upon it.

Noticing the chicken-scratch of the kanji, Mai frowned, but tore her violet gaze up to Takumi, forcing a smile. "I'm glad," although her tone didn't sound so.

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><p>"I want that list by tomorrow, Yamada, I must know where and who the HiME are." The statement was harsh and Natsuki frowned at the middle-aged man, her bike helmet slung under her arm, zipping her biker gear up to her collarbone. "Make sure the chairman doesn't find out.<p>

It was beginning to get dark within the grounds now, the sun setting across the academy. Although this concept didn't bother her, she was far too concerned with getting this scumbag to finish what she had set him in the first place.

"Just sort it out." She snapped, straddling the seat of her bike and setting her helmet on. "Or our deal is off." Sick of the man, she unhooked the bike revved the engine of the Ducati.

Why did people annoy her so much?

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><p>Standing a foot or two from Takumi, Mai unconsciously held her arm. Unsure of what to do with herself, she followed after the younger Tokiha; Mai, of course knew the way to Takumi and Akira's dorm room, but of course she didn't want that known.<p>

Did he share his room with Akira yet?

"We're almost here," Takumi spoke, gesturing over to the dorm building across the road. As this was said, a ducati motorbike zoomed off and down the road, Mai's eyes widening faintly as she followed after the student.

Natsuki?

"Sis?" The younger Tokiha had already been crossing the road, having taken no familiar notice to the biker.

Shaking out of it, Mai blinked.

What? Oh.

Swiftly making sure there was nothing coming, Mai quickly followed after Takumi.

She just prayed everything would go fine.

As they entered the doors to the dorms, not a fragment of notice was taken towards the moon. The satellite a bright, glowing sphere within the sky; and yet beside it was a shimmering crimson star, vermilion and cerulean scattered around it.

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><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTES<strong>

I have a pairing in mind, actually quite a few. This is essentially an experimental story so the chapters are a lot shorter than what I'd usually upload, but oh, well. But you shouldn't worry, Mai won't be going Mary Sue on us and it'll be a long while until she gathers herself and figures out how this dimension works.

**Beth Cyra:** Mai has always been a potential the fandom has completely ignored, I thought it was about time to experiment with the darkness which surrounds her.

**Major Mike Powell III:** Got to tell you, I completely agree. ShizNat is utterly and completely overrated, and it doesn't help when you can get lashed out at for creating something which doesn't focus on them. Hell, I have no idea how the fandom is going to react to the new stories I'll be publishing soon. To say the least, they aren't within the norm. As for the atmosphere which Lachrymose has. It is indeed unsettling, and at the moment I'm not sure where I am going with it. It is only an experimental story after all, but this doesn't mean I won't be concentrating on other unique characters and pairings.


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